2012-09-25 Protests and Coffee
It is early afternoon in Times Square. The crowds are thick with tourists and day trippers, but not nearly as bad as it will get once the theater crowds start adding to it. The sun is out, but there is a bit of a chill in the September air none the less. Autumn has officially begun and New York City appears to be getting ready for it. If you look closely along 5th Avenue, you may even spot small notices about Christmas shopping to get started. Most of the folks here are not local except for those trying to hand out fliers for bus tours, comedy shows, and now Ollie's rally. Oliver Queen is standing on a corner not too far from the M&M store at the top of Times Square. He is dressed in a simple green T-shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. Despite the chill, he is not wearing a jacket today. He is carrying a large stack of papers made from card stock and is trying to hand them out. "Protest on Friday, folks," he calls out to anyone that will listen. "Lets tell the politicians that registration is wrong!" While Jubilation Lee isn't usually the public service kind, she's heard about this good cause via the internet. Consequently, she's here to see who's hosting this rally, and possibly look around a bit for her school. She's the Chinese-American girl in the designer flared jeans and fleece-lined denim jacket, with the red shades, spiky black 'do, and wheel-style earrings with 'Jubilee' on each one, trying so hard to see over the crowd when she's not making her way through it towards the man handing out flyers. "'Scuse me... comin' through... hey, make a hole..." Heading up the steps from the subway entrance not too far down the block, Tanya shoves her hands into her jacket pockets, looking around for a store she was told would be here. Riding the subway was a somewhat interesting experience, but at least it was better than trying to ride here, probably. She looks around for a moment, then her attention is caught by the flyer-hander-outer. Registration? This can't be a good thing. She goes to boldly weave and shove through the crowd to get closer to the guy and snag a flyer. Kyle looks like he's had a loooong day. He bypasses some construction crews who look like they're repairing a few ripped out posts, and there's a few signs up that say ::Warning: Monster Damage Being Repaired::. There's also a few pictures of Deadpool in Luke Cage's arms, for some reason, standing over a pile of monster guts. Whatever. The stains look mostly gone by now. Kyle has had an equally rough day- but, he's sort of funneled into Ollie's path, and runs right into the guy. "Oh. Damn, sorry- didn't see you there," the lanky young artist says, shaking his head. He braces himself on Ollie and tries to balance. "Didn't mean to interrupt your protest." Sue Storm is walking through running an errand when she hears a voice calling out about registration. She slows to listen, her eyebrows pulling together as she tries to figure out what /kind/ of registration the man is talking about. She's probably RIGHT in Tanya's path now. More folks are having -issues-. Tanya can feel a surge of some power as she enters the area. Emmy sits on her board beside the pay window of a McDonald's Drive Through. "What do you mean I don't qualify? I'm on a vehicle. Motorized even." she says, pointing to the motorized racecar track parts on her board. She tries a big grin and lifts her sunglasses even as the store manager leans into the conversation. "Seriously ma'am. Please move along. This is not funny any longer." And so Emmy just snorts and shakes her head, "Here I thought you'd accept a paying customer piloting a vehicle. Wait till I get my flying Winnebego. I bet you would discriminate against me then too!" That said, she turns and stands up before pressing the accelerator and turning to drift off out into the crowds... or rather over them. Yep, a registration rally, and a flying hoverboard riding girl. That's gonna mix -real- well. "Oh, the protest isn't until Friday. Trying to drum up some support for it now," Ollie says to Kyle without looking at him right away. He is in the process of handing out a flyer which he does before turning to look at who addressed him. "Oh, hey. How goes?" he says as he recognizes the kid from the sushi place from the other day. He offers Kyle a flyer. "Here. The Senator Castroneves is acting out of anger from his family getting killed. I completely understand that, but at the same time, we can't let him pass any kind of powers registration act." He turns to try and catch another passerby with a card. Jubilation is a passerby! Actually, she's nearly a collider-with, when a person she'd squeezed past pushes her from behind and almost into Ollie. "Oof! Oh, hi!" she says, managing a bright smile for the activist that's only a /little/ embarrassed. "Have another one of those? I'll /totally/ be there for this." Noticing Kyle, she glances over, her enthusiasm chilling just a little. "Oh. Hi again. No paintings to show today?" she asks, friendly enough. "...shit," mutters Tanya, hand stretched out for a flier. That's a rather powerful disturbance in the magical threads. She looks around, trying to pin-point the source of the magical disturbance--and then she actually thinks to look up. Shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand, she finds the crazy woman from the other day. Well, with this crowd, she won't be heard by shouting, but she does have a few other tricks--like sticking her index finger and thumb into her mouth, to blow a sharp, high-pitched whistle, trying to get the hoverboard-rider's attention. "Oh, hey, Oliver. Nice to meet you." Kyle tries to shake the shock off of his face- he's had a busy day, and not the kind of thing you can really call and talk to your mom or ex-girlfriend about. "What's this? Im sorry, I've been busy with my gallery opening- I haven't been following the news." He looks the flyer over, brushing rakishly disarrayed hair back from his face. "What's this- he's calling for registration? Of... people with, uh... powers?" Kyle squints, trying to read it. The man's eyebrows shoot up, the expression of a man realizing he is no longer a sideliner to political issues in the world. Well, shrill whistles get attention from lots of folks. Emmy is already muttering to herself impreciations about McDonald's management. The whistle makes her veer, but she seems to have far better control over her board than Tanya might remember. She reaches up and presses a stud on the side of her sunglasses and turns her head to and fro to try to find whomever is doing the whistling. She even zooms in as she slows and then hits the brakes, coming to a stop maybe ten feet over Ollie's head. "Oh! Hi!" she yells at the top of her lungs, waving a hand towards Tanya. "Need a lift?!" Sue Storm isn't quite as close as everyone else, but the SHRILL whistle from less than ten feet away makes her flinch in surprise then turn to see where it came from. She notices some distinctively pink hair and steps toward Tanya. "Hey... what's going on?" She's keeping her voice pitched low enough to not carry too far. "Holy BALLS!" Kyle flinches back, an an intense sparkle of green light smatters off of his right hand. It's gone so fast it may well have been just an optical illusion. He follows Tanya and Emmy's haphazard flight, his jaw dropped a bit less than it probably ought to have been. He's had a busy day, with aliens in Central Park, and all. "Uh... so.... why do they want u- them to register? Is it for, like, a training program, or something?" Kyle asks, clearly completely ignorant of the protest or its proponents. Jubilation glances sidelong at Kyle as he ignores her completely. But then there's the nice guy with the flyers helping her with her balance! "Thanks," she says, smiling gratefully and taking the flyer. "It totally isn't fair to single people out. I mean, I didn't ask... I don't think it's right. We don't separate people out for... um, for different colored eyes, either. It's the same thing, and it's wrong!" Of course, seeing above the crowd is a problem for her, even though she hears the whistle plainly enough. But Emmy is impossible to miss, crowd or no crowd. "Oh, fudgesicles... I hope she's not testing weapons today..." Soemthing between a smile and a grimace appears on Tanya's face as the woman hovers closer, and--shouts. Well, the crowd /is/ pretty large. "Hey," she calls back over the crowd, "why not actually land so you don't have to shout?!" Or potentially irk the crowd. People can be sometimes too easy to scare, after all, especially in large groups like this. 5bShe's about to shout something else up, then Sue gets her attention. It takes her a moment to remember, but the proverbial light bulb goes off over her head, and she smiles at the blonde. "Hey! It's you. Long time, no see. "Ummm--not much, really. This anti-registration protest sounds interesting." If it will work. There's a bit of less-than-enthusiasm in her toward the idea. If registration doesn't go through this time, they'll just keep trying until it does. Sue Storm ohs softly, then looks from Tanya up at the girl on the hoverboard before floating up to her level. "I'm afraid your nice little board there is proving to be a bit ... disconcerting. Would you mind joining us where no one has to shout? Traffic is noisy enough without adding more noise to the mix." She waits to see if the girl is going to acquiesce before returning to ground level. Watching Sue just... come up. Emmy raises a brow behind her sunglasses. She looks from Sue, down to Tanya, and then back up. "You mean down there? Where there's so many... people?" she asks, "Uh, thanks, but it's a lot easier to breathe up here. Hence why I offered her..." she points to Tanya, "A ride." She doesn't seem awestruck by the flying person... or even a person walking on nothing. Her glasses can see a lot, but they can't see 'invisible' force fields. They're invisible right? She wrinkles up her nose and shakes her head. "Seriously, I was just trying to grab some quick drive through before heading back to Metropolis. I've gotten most of the bugs worked out for my Stargate CD's. But if I don't get back to the lab soon, the crystal I'm growing might get over-ripe and I won't be able to use it to focus the light saber blade." Yes, the girl with the flying snowboard and the toy movie gun at her side, is talking about light sabers. "If you ask me, they want everyone to register so they have their own little private database. Knowledge is power, my friend." He nods to Jubilee. "Exactly. Exactly." He steps forward to get another card out before looking back at the pair. He keeps glancing upward at the hoverboard as well as he notices Tanya and Sue in the crowd, and he really notices as Sue floats upward towards the girl in the air. "See?" he calls out to any and all near him. "Why do we need registration? Is floating on air hurting anyone? Heck, there are plenty of times I've walked through Times Square wishing I could do something like that." There comes along in the crowd a small group of young men. They are all tall and broad shouldered as if they just escaped Giants Training Camp. They seem to make a path through the crowd without really trying to. They are handsome men, but at the same time, looking like they have a major chip on their shoulders too. Even as Ollie steps forward to offer them a flyer, the man in charge is looking up at Emmy and Sue. "Get a look at the freaks," he says with an elbow to his buddy. "Should just get rid of them all. Place would be a whole lot safer that way." Without really thinking about consequences, the lead guy tries to reach up and grab at Sue's ankle to yank her out of the air. "Your ring's glowing again," Jubilation tells Kyle, trying not to giggle. Seems like it does that a lot, actually. She smiles and steps away from Ollie, looking for a way through the crowd to Emmy. And the floating girl. She can at least say hello. And then someone reaching for the floating girl's ankle! "Oh, fudge!" Jubilation is in motion instantly, pushing her way through the crowd. At her size, it involves more squeezing than pushing, but whatever. Someone needs help! "Hey, let go of her, you big gorilla!" Looking up at the hovering women, Tanya doesn't immediately register the arrival of the small group. That hand reaching up, however, does grab her attention, along with the sudden burst of movement from the smaller girl. Since she's closer, having been near Sue when the blonde lifted off, she's closer to the group--and lashes out, to try and grab the guy's other hand. If his attention is mostly on the flying girls, maybe Tanya can grab his off-hand and step around him, to twist the wrist and pin it to his back. Tanya isn't the largest thing around, but she doesn't spend two nights a week learning just this stuff for nothing. Sue Storm ohs and nods to the young woman on the hoverboard. "Ah, yes. Science I understand. I won't keep you." She smiles and turns to float back down near Tanya, and notices the men being rude, especially the one making a grab at her ankle. Oddly though, she doesn't startle and she doesn't try to pull her ankle clear of the man's hand. He can hang on if he really wants to try. She's not about to budge, even if she is 'standing' in mid-air. She looks down at the ruffian almost blandly. "You know, I could press charges for assault." "I.... well, I mean, you know, registration," Kyle mumbles. He has no opinion whatsoever about the act- at least, had no opinion up until a few hours ago. And just like that Jubilee goes screaming off after a set of bruisers, and it looks like another woman he doesn't know is going for the judo chop. Kyle wipes mouth on the back of his hand and considers his options, steeling himself for action. Big crowd. Lots of passers-by. Civilians. And it looks like despite Sue's lack of concern, there's a fight brewing. So, Kyle does the civic-minded thing and lifts his ring to his lips. Immediately, the sound of police sirens wafts across Times Square. It's shrill, and grating, and for some reason, several people in the vicinity who have things like unpaid parking tickets or let their dog poop on a public greenery all look /very/ guilty and start slinking away. Kyle grins and keeps up the whistling, watching to see if the thugs react as well. Right, science! Finally! Someone who understands. Emmy is about to space out when the guy grabs at Sue's ankle. She just gives the guy a -very- old fashioned look. The sort of look an angry nanny gives a spoiled and misbehaving child. "Miss. Would you like to borrow my phaser? I promise it's set to stun. Won't even disintegrate'em... not even a little bit." she remarks as she maneuvers her board over closer to Sue. The first bully makes a tug on Sue's leg but when she doesn't budge he looks confused. "Yeah, and you will be breaking the law soon enough just by being, fr.." His words are cut off as Tanya grabs his off hand and presses it behind him. He cries out in pain and surprise. "Get her off of me!" Another of the big guys goes to grab Tanya's shoulder to yank her away from Lead Bully. A third moves to intercept Jubilee as she rushes towards them. "Not so fast, Short Round," he says in a rough voice trying to shove her back and to the ground as she runs up to them. There are five of these gorilla type guys backing each other up at the moment. As the police siren starts, Four does look nervous. He says, "C'mon. Lets just get out of here. Nothing to be gained here." One still has his hand on Sue's ankle and pinned by Tanya. "Bull. Cops will arrest the freaks and not us normals. Stay your ground. Bet these were the folks that killed that lady and kids the other day." Two is trying to throw Tanya away from One. Three is confronting Jubilee. Five hasn't gotten involved yet. Ollie frowns as the confrontation begins. "And this is just going to happen more and more if that damn law gets past," he mutters more to himself than to anyone in particular. He notices the coincidence of police sirens with Kyle bringing his hand up, but doesn't say anything at the moment. He tucks the flyers into his back pocket and is moving through the crowd but is behind Jubilee at the moment. Sue Storm looks at Emmy again and smiles. "Thank you, but no. It'll be fine." She can easily use a few well-placed force fields to get these boorish young men under control, especially if the police are so close by. Yeah, the sirens are fooling her too, go figure. Trying to think of a non-violent way to get the attention of the five thugs, she hesitates for a moment then takes off her necklace. 'Kneeling' down still in mid-air and with her ankle still in the same place where it's being held, she dangles the '4' medallion in the man's face. "Are you /really/ sure that you want to have this attitude toward me?" Normally, she HATES bringing attention to who she is, but if this works, it'll be worth it. Oh, that's not good... it looks like the goons understand the concept of teamwork! Jubilee, caught in midstride, gets grabbed and shoved! Suddenly, those hours in the Danger Room don't seem wasted at all, especially since she knows how to roll with the fall. Cursing inwardly at the potential damage to her outfit, she rolls and comes up in a crouch, sweeping at his leg to try and put /him/ on the ground as well! "I can promise you, ape-boy, this is gonna be an all-night match!" ...yoink. Yeah, Tanya may take classes for this stuff, but she can't exactly stop physics. And with her yanker-awayer outweighing her by a good amount--he wins. "Damn it!" she exclaims as she's tossed aside. When she's released she skitters back into the crowd, landing against someone--she doesn't stick around long enough to see who the pedestrian even is--and almost immediately pushing off from them. Emitting a soft grunt, she pushes up the sleeves on her jacket and reaches out to the goons. Only two aren't too close to someone else, so--her eyes hands, and the flame "sleeve" on her right leg all glow bright pink, then two of the goons' shoes will catch on fire. The flames aren't large, but--the goons' attention should be gotten. "Well, you need'em stunned... lemme know." says Emmy as she draws the prop hard molded rubber Phaser from her holster. She's hollowed it out and installed wires, LED's and such. She flicks a switch, and a holo aiming device powers up atop the weapon and she twists the back end towards stun, just to make sure it's set that way even as she steps down gently on the 'climb' control, raising in the air out of general reach of folks. "People! You need to learn manners! Grabby hands might work for kids, you you're... in theory, grown up!" Of course, -one- person here has seen that phaser in action. Technically two-ish. "You part of the Fantastic Four?" One blinks as he sees the necklace but lets go of the ankle. "Then you should be helping us. Help us put these outlaw freaks under some kind of control then." He looks back towards Emmy as she gets higher. "Like that one. She's just....out there," he says as he loses words to really describe Emmy. Two laughs as he tosses Tanya with little effort. "That will teach ya..ya..ya..YAAAAAAA" He screams as his shoes begin to catch fire. The man jumps around quickly joined by Four as his shoes catch fire too. Five begins to move now. He steps towards Tanya and swings a heavy hand at her head. "Knock that out or the cops won't even find you." Three gloats at Jubilee but wasn't expecting the leg sweep. He falls backwards with a crash and an oof as his breath is knocked out of him. He is trying to push himself back up as he snorts through his nose looking at Jubilee. Ollie moves to try and catch Jubilee as she is shoved, but the girl has training. He nods quietly as she rolls back into an attack position. As she legs sweeps, he steps forward to try and step on Three's chest before he can get up. "You should probably stay down, buddy." Jubilee stands as Ollie demonstrates that /he/ knows a thing or two about teamwork, too! "Thanks!" she says, giving him a fiercely grateful smile, then hurrying to back up... Tanya?! She's here? No time to question this, really. And it doesn't look like the floating girl needs help at all. She seems to be /talking/ to her assailant. See? Civilized discourse really /does/ work better than fighting! But it's not going to help Tanya! The teenaged mutant takes two running steps and goes into a shoulder roll, aiming for the backs of Five's legs. Hopefully she can overbalance him and knock him down! "Tanya! Push him!" Sue Storm shakes her head in disappointment at Thing One. "I'm sorry, but no. From what I've seen just now, /you/ are the ones causing trouble here." She glances at the others, then abruptly a small disc-shaped force field separate from her own appears with a translucent blue shimmer between Thing Five and Tanya. "Really, that's two charges of assault now." Having to stay focused to make sure the flames stay small and manageable while still hurting like hell, Tanya doesn't see the guy stepping up to her; he's big as a house, strong as an ox, and likely bright as a toothpick, but weaving magic does take a lot of concentration. That hand coming at her head, on the other hand, is hard to miss, and the glow fades as her attention flicks over to it. "Not aga--" is all she has time to murmur--then the man's hand suddenly stops as he's tackled. That--was very unexpected, and for the first time in a long time, Tanya actually considers finding a god to pray to. Of course, Emmy might have a whole logic based discourse prepared on how she has no powers and is just using her inventions to make life easier. But she's not even paying attention to what the folks are saying. She's adjusting that phaser and looking towards where Tanya got flung. "Oh no you don't." she mutters as she takes aim at a human being with her stun setting for the first time. "Time for a siesta you rude little punk." of course, she has -no- idea what Jubilee has planned... but she's firing. Might hit nobody, might hit the mutant kid. Difficult to say. She's trying so hard here! Five cries out in pain as his hard swing connects with the invisible shield. He is still reacting when he is struck in the back of the legs by the tackling Jubilee. Yes, he out weighs her, but he is unprepared and not thinking about her at all. He falls like a sack of potatoes although he falls backwards and towards Jubilee, and now added on that he is hit with a "stun" blast. He is falling dead weight towards Jubilee. Two and Four have gotten down on their knees trying to put out the fire on their shoes. As Tanya's concentration is a little wrecked, they are able to put the flames out. Their feet will be full of blisters to be sure however and walking is tender for them. However, their anger is quickly out distancing the pain in their feet. They look about for someone to hurt and see Ollie standing on Three. "Get 'im," the pair cry as they try to tackle the civilian garbed emerald archer. No one seems to notice that the supposed cop siren has not lead to actual cops showing up yet although someone is bound to be calling them on their cell phone at the moment. One looks up at Sue again as the rest of his group works on taking care of the do gooders. "Maybe, but public opinion is going to be on my side, lady. That law will pass because people want to feel safe." Ollie is looking at Three even as his tackled by Two and Four. He is now an Ollie sandwich as he is driven off his feet and slammed hard into the concrete pavement of the sidewalk. Yes! The big goon's falling... No! He's falling on her! Jubilee squeaks in pain as 200-ish pounds of unconscious US-Choice beef land right on top of her, leaving her head and arms showing on one side and furiously kicking shins and feet on the other. "Unff! Fudge!" She can't even crawl out from under him! And what's worse, the nice guy who held down her first victim is under attack himself! "Whoa! Look out!" she calls, too late, as Ollie gets the same thing she got, only worse, since there's two of them and they're not unconscious. "Hey! Could somebody help the flyer guy?" ...that's not what she meant to do. Tanya winces as the two goons go for the flier-hander-outer, and she's about to go after them--when the goon talking to Sue makes that smart-assed comment about safety. Fine, she'll give him safety--the safety of a nice nap. She breaks into a run as her eyes and hands glow, along with the faintest outline of a curved lightning bolt on her left bicep through the jacket. She goes to jump as she passes Goon One, to smack the back of his head--and give him a little seizure by making the electricity in his brain fire randomly for just a fraction of a second. Long enough to hopefully put that goon on the sidewalk, so she can continue running to help Ollie, since Jubilee is, technically, fine for the moment. It's the flier-hander-outer that's still in the most danger. Sue Storm simply sighs and shakes her head at the deluded young man and her attempt to use the force field that protected Tanya to stop the others from attacking Oliver but is just a hair too slow. So she opts for the next best thing and puts a restraining field around Thing One and watches the other three for any chance she can get to catch them as well. Thing Five is pretty much out for the count, but she can't pull him off of Jubilee without risking the teen. Of course... Emmy is almost as stunned as the guy she shot. She stares at the phaser, and then looks down at the guy pinning Jubilee to the ground. After about two seconds of staring, she grins and pumps a fist. "Yes! Stun setting works! And it didn't even feedback and destroy my hand! I'm so good at this!" She starts doing a little amateur wiggle up there on her hoverboard... well, as far as she's concerned, she's dancing a storm up there. Really, she's just kinda shaking her hips in the.. I've never danced outside my bedroom.. body language. Yep, totally forgot there's a fight going on. Ollie manages to bring an elbow down on Two just as he hits the ground. "Owww," he moans softly as he struggles to fight back against the pair. They have size, but no real training. Ollie is able to get a leg up and flips Four up over him as the elbow drives Two's face into the ground as well, breaking the man's nose. Even after Four flips, Ollie remains on his back on the ground. "Okay. I'm just going to lay here for a bit." One looks like he is going to retort to Sue's shield when he gets struck with a Gibbs Slap from Hell. His body locks up inside the restraining field and then he slumps with his head lolling forward to his chest. Three starts to get up after Ollie has been knocked off of him, but his breath was taken out by the fall caused by Jubilee. He is slow getting up, but gets to a knee in time to see his buddies being taken apart by the folks around them. "This ain't worth it," he growls to everyone. "Lets get out of here now." "Hey! Seriously! The flyer dude needs..." And then Jubilation sees the mess Ollie's making of Two and Four. "...help..? Um, okay then. Can somebody help /me/?" she calls, changing the request. Hopefully somebody's listening! 'Cuz obviously Emmy isn't, dancing like a loon up on her hoverboard. "Girl, I have /sooo/ got to teach you actual moves. You look like you've got ants in your pants, only less graceful." The glow coming from Tanya doesn't fade; she's not done with these jerks just yet. She's going after the two tussling with Oliver, so when she gets close enough, she'll launch herself at Goon Two, who's hopefully got enough problems dealing with a broken nose to not notice her until she's on his back, where she'll seizure-smack him, too. Gritting her teeth, if Goon Two goes down as nicely as she hopes, she'll scramble after Goon Four to give the same to him. She's had about enough of them. Sue Storm doesn't release Thing One yet, floating down to be eye level with him. "Think on this later. You started a fight. I refused to finish it. These other nice people were defending themselves and their friends. Try to make any more of this, and you'll realize exactly how much of a mistake you've made here. Hm?" Then the force field drops, and she watches him and the others warily, ready to 'help' them leave if need be. Ever hear Eddie Murphy's "I got my iiiice cream." song? Well, Emmy is making up something similar as she grooves a bust up there. Or bust a move... she's not sure what the term is. "I got my phaaaaser. It stuns the craaaaap outa folks." She holsters the thing and then twists, almost falling off the board before looking down. "Oh right. EVERYONE OKAY?" she calls, out as she recalls, hey, there are other folks down there. One collapses as Sue drops the force field. Three makes it over to One, dragging him up as he puts his arms under One's. "We're getting out of here," he says to Sue. He doesn't look especially happy about it, but also knows he is getting no where fast if he stays. "C'mon!" he snaps at the others. Four manages to get to his feet after being flipped by Ollie and staggers after Three and One. Two makes it up to his hands and knees but is then zapped by Tanya. He collapses spread eagle out on the ground. Five is still on top of Jubilee and still out cold. Ollie begins to get to his feet as Two is dealt with and Four tries to make an escape. He looks around for a moment and then spots Jubilee. "Gotta help the little guy," he says in his best Bill Murry as he tries to push/roll Five off of Jubilee. He is still a little woozy from being slammed to the ground. Sue Storm returns to the ground (though if one is paying attention they'll see her feet are still an inch or two above the sidewalk) and hurries over to help Oliver 'rescue' the teen. "Are you okay?" she asks the girl. "Uh, so, this isn't exactly my forte, but..." Kyle, standing a way off from the crisis and trying to take baby steps in the brawl, makes a vast reaching gesture for the man on top of Jubilee. The ghostly image of a hand coalesces into existence, grabs the man by the scruff of his shirt, and pulls him aside (none too gently). The lanky artist moves over to try and help, the pushing crowds having finally been kept at bay (which is totally what he was doing). "Hmph," mutters Tanya as the glow finally fades from her. For a moment she's tempted to go after Goon Three, just to make it a full set, but--maybe he'll spread the word to his fellows, and maybe--just maybe--they'll think twice before starting this kind of crap again. She blinks as the sudden wave of tiredness hits her, then she focuses on the others. Right, Jubilee needs help. She'll go over to help Sue and oliver--when the ghostly hand grabs the guy. That works. "I've got to learn how to do that," she murmurs as she continues to head to Jubilee. An irritated sigh escapse Jubilee as Emmy gets off Imagination Idol's Cloud Nine and returns to the real world. "Down here, genius!" she snaps. "Under the palooka you stunned!" Fortunately, the flyer guy's a lot more attentive to people in trouble. And, unknown to her, so is the art guy! The Chinese-American teen can only barely turn her head far enough to see him, but she recognizes the voice of Ollie. "Oof... thanks. I totally owe you two now," she says, still trying to remember how to breathe properly. That guy was /heavy/! Sue's question draws her attention. "I'll heal," she murmurs, wincing and stretching squashed back muscles. "How's your ankle? I saw that first guy grab you." Okay, crouching on her board, Emmy peeks over the edge and her grinning face might be almost scary to some. She has her shades up and her eyes exposed, "Thanks for helping me test the stun setting!" she calls out. "But I -have- to get back to my lab or I will have to start all over on that light saber!" That said, she lowers the board to a far less crowded sidewalk and pulls out one of those computer CD's of hers, "Stand back folks." she says as she affixes it to a nearby wall and presses the activation button. "Three... two... one..." And there it comes, the Stargate sci fi sideways flush that stabilizes into a shimmering portal. Sue Storm smiles at Jubilee and reaches to help the girl sit up, the faint blue shimmer where her hands don't quite touch her. "That guy didn't touch my ankle." She looks up at Emmy to thank her for her help but... "Wow." "No problem," Ollie says as he helps and then backs up as the green hand does the rest. "Well, got two of them knocked out so maybe we can take them to the authorities. They will probably walk though as they will claim self defense and no one around here is going to back us up. Just he said, she said kind of thing." He shakes his head. He catches sight of Emmy's portal and mouths 'wow' for a moment but then looks back. "Well, I hope to see you guys at the protest on Friday. Hopefully we won't let the Goon Squad here get too close. I've got to get out of here. I'm Ollie by the way," he says with a wave of his hand. "If you need me, just yell. I won't hear you right away, but I like the idea of folks yelling for me. Glad everyone is okay." He takes a step back and offers a wave before turning to go. "What on -earth- is happening Friday?" asks Emmy aloud, but mostly to herself. She shakes her head and then steps through the portal. So of course, it closes behind her and the CD is consumed as the portal closes. Nothing left, not even a mark where it was at... This is the second time Tanya's seen that portal-thingy of Emmy's, but it's still damned impressive. Especially now that, for the first time in a long time, she's got a clearer head to really appreciate it with. "Umm--what? Oh, the--Friday. Yeah, gon'a try and be here," she says to Ollie, giving him a smile as he turns to go. She'll go to Sue and stop, glancing back at the portal before looking between Sue and Jubilee. Jubilation waves to the flyer guy... Ollie. Good name to remember! Emmy's gone already. And this nice person is helping her to recover! "Thanks," the kid murmurs, blinking at the blonde's ankle. And at Tanya. "Tanya... you okay?" she asks. After all, she did get squished trying to help her out. But something shiny in the blonde's hand gets her attention. It's a medallion, with a very familiar symbol on it. Jubilee gasps. "Ohmigod-ohmigod-ohmigod... /Sue Storm/?!" Goldfish face, totally. "Man, this is... this is not my day. I gotta..." Kyle kind of wobbles a bit in the knee area and slumps to the curb, head in hands. He'd met Pepper Potts, the Dazzler, was attacked by alien musicians, and got hit in the face with a bunch of registration stuff that he is suddenly politically confused about. It's been one of those 'new to the cape' sort of superhero afternoons. Sue Storm actually looks a little bashful at Jubilee's reaction. "Um, yeah. Hi. What's your na..." She turns to look at Kyle, then turns to silently ask Tanya to either stay with Jubilee or go help Kyle. "Are you okay over there?" Tanya opens her mouth to say something--then Kyle is on the ground. Oh, she knows how that goes. She hurries over a half-step behind Sue, to crouch behind Kyle and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, take it easy, yeah? Been a hell of a day. Just relax for right now." Jubilation stares in amazement for a moment. Then she realizes that that bashful look on Sue's face is made by herself. "Oh! Oh, I'm sorry. It's just... you're totally my idol! Every time I wonder about something, I try to think of what you'd do if you were where I was." She smiles brilliantly. "I'm Jubilation Lee... but just Jubes is fine. I know my name's a mouthful." She looks over at Kyle, wincing in sympathy. "I've /soo/ been there. I think Artist Guy needs some ice cream, and fast. Know a good place, Miss Storm?" Must be respectful to the idol, after all! Ladies, ladies, please. Kyle /sat/ down. Not fainted. Seriously, he didn't faint. He just felt really, really tired. And sat down suddenly. "Yeah. Yeah. I just, uh... you know. One of those days where, you know, you're in New York for a low-key art exhibit gallery showing, next thing you know..." He looks around, and makes a kind of explodey noise and gesture with his hands. Sue Storm had started to move toward Kyle, but she saw that Tanya would be faster so she stops and goes back to Jubilee. "How about we all move away from the middle of the sidewalk, hm?" "Yeah, I know what you mean," says Tanya as she sits down on the curb next to Kyle, resting her forearms on her knees and looking out for a moment. "Pretty sure those days become par for the course and even boring at some point, though--I admit I'm still waiting for that." A small joke, there, given with a smile as she looks back to him. "Wait until you get knocked in the head hard enough to send you flying. /That/ is when you know you're having a bad day." That smile widens as she loosely interlaces her fingers. Jubilation manages to stand, rubbing her back. "I think I can move now, Miss Storm," she replies. "Off the sidewalk sounds like a good place to be. But I still vote for ice cream for Artist Guy." She holds up a hand, touching her middle finger. "Do you know what makes that ring of his glow? I've seen that happen twice now, and it totally doesn't look like an LED or anything like that." She looks over at the man in question, and smiles at the sight of Tanya with him. "I'd say he's in good hands. But those hands aren't holding ice cream." She stoops and collects one of the flyers for the rally, having lost her own. This one's got a footprint on it, but it'll work. "Can you ask him if he wants some ice cream, Miss Storm? He totally ignores me." "I'm... I don't think I need ice cream, Jubilation. Jubilee," Kyle quips, offering her a shaky but easy grin. He waves her off and smiles gratefully at (all) the female attention. "I just need to catch my breath. I'm uh, honored to meet Sue Storm, of course." He waves at one of New York's local celebs, who he's now meeting. Again. For the first time. On top of meeting Dazzler face to face (in the middle of an alien battle). "It's been wild. I figured New York wouldn't be that different from LA. I have been, of course, proven wrong." He shakes his head and chuckles at it all and leans back, hands behind him and feet propped up on the roadway. "Makes you wonder what the rest of the country is going to be like in a few years, don't it?" muses Tanya, watching him for a moment longer, then looks up at the skyscrapers. "One day, the entire country is going to be as crazy as New York, at least the heavily-populated places." She shifts a bit, turning to face him and Jubilee a bit more. "I'd like to say you get used to the crazy, but--I've lived here all my life and most of it is still, well--crazy." She grins and cants her head a little. "I think I'm hearing things... no, that's just Artist Guy remembering I exist!" Jubilation ripostes, patting his shoulder. "I've read studies that say the male mind is less attentive, but I didn't think I'd find such definitive proof. Good to know you're okay, though." She leans back against the wall, smiling at Tanya. "Some places on the West Coast are this crazy, but they don't have as many super-types. I've only been here a few months, and I don't think I'll ever really get used to it. I do think it'll get easier to deal with." "I'm just not 'hip' enough to catch all the lingo you're laying down, Jubilee." Kyle winks at the girl. That's impossible, of course- he's a pair of skinny pants and geek-chique glasses away from being so cool he makes Iceman look like a melvin. He's so hip, he still dresses like a rational, smart-dressed man who takes his professional conduct seriously. Not seriously enough to get a haircut, at least. "I hope I do, eventually, 'cause I'm going to go insane if I don't figure out a way to adapt. I mean, those /aliens/ in Central Park." He shakes his head. "/Aliens/. Up close. And... the scariest thing I'd seen in LA was some metahumans slugging it out a mile out into the harbor. Here, you New Yorkers... this must be pretty daily." "It is, but you kind of--get used to it after a while, I guess," says Tanya, rubbing the side of her jaw, attention flicking between Jubilee and Kyle. "I mean, it never gets less /crazy/, but--you become sort of inured to it, kind'a. You get used to the fact that it's crazy, but it never stops /being/ crazy? I know, kind'a seems like it doesn't work, but..." She shrugs one shoulder and nods to Jubilee. "Seen anything yet that hasn't made you just boggle at the weirdness of life in general? I mean, I know you said you might not ever get used to it, but..." "Nobody is. It's kinda sad," Jubilation replies, blowing a playful raspberry at Kyle. "On the plus side, most supervillain types aren't much for art galleries, so you're probably in the safest place you could be, aside from a bunker ten miles beneath the Earth! Only, y'know, maybe you should stop your ring from glowing. It might make them curious," she adds, with a grinning glance at the jewelry in question. She turns her attention to Tanya. "Me? Not yet. But I did run into Thor and Sif outside a coffee shop once. They were going in for pastries and java. They invited me to join them." She giggles, blushing and lowering her head. "I was /sooo/ knocked out when I realized who they were!" Kyle grins and flicks his thumb and forefinger against Jub's forehead, teasingly. "Thor and Sif, shopping for... pastries in New York. /That/ I don't get. Aliens, Dazzler, Pepper Potts at my art gallery- I get all that. The Lords of Asgard buying Starbucks?" He brushes his hands together. "Nope. I'm out. I'm officially going insane, now." He looks askance of the sky overhead. "And that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about," says Tanya, arching a brow and looking back to Kyle. "It's still weird, but--you eventually lose that instinct to just bug out. Hell, after awhile, hopping dimensions becomes old hat, and soon the next elemental to bug you for something becomes just a mild blip on the attention radar." A grin, there, as she looks back out to the traffic in the street. "I'm not. Starbucks makes great coffee, and their pastries aren't half bad, either. Brekkie of the gods, maybe?" Jubilee suggests through giggles. "But when you think about it, they've got to adjust to our world, same as we've got to adjust to them being here. They're probably no more comfortable about it than we are. At least those two are cool. No knocking down buildings in fits of disbelief, I mean." "I keep thinking... you know... maybe this stuff is happening to me for a reason." Kyle looks at his right hand, the glittering emerald ring that seems to have a life all its own. Even now, the light catches it in unpredictable bursts and flutters, unlike any natural gem. "Aliens... gods, thugs... I mean, I came here to open a galleria at the Met. And I keep finding myself getting caught up in these scuffles. Maybe that's fate telling me I should do something about it. Start making a real difference," he considers. He looks at his ring. "Man. I could /kill/ for a grande latte right now." "I wonder just how much they really have to adjust," Tanya remarks, arching both brows as she watches the cars pass. "By definition, being gods means they're not mortals, subject to mortal psychologies." She shrugs again, then gets to her feet, brushing her hands on the seat of her pants, then she grins at Kyle. "Maybe it is, at that. Couldn't hurt to listen to it. Blah blah, power, responsibility, can make a difference, blah blah. Kind'a clichés, really, but they got to be clichés for a reason. As for coffee, well--what Starbucks has going for it is consistency; you order something here or in Chicago, you know exactly what you're getting because it won't change. Now, you want good flavor and better prices, there are a few good but little-known coffee shops around. Well, not /here/ in Times Square, but." "It's doing it again," Jubilee teases. "But if you want coffee, well, this is New York, right? There's probably at least one shop every two blocks, even if it's Starbucks. Feel up to looking for one? 'Cuz I do!" She nods to Tanya. "No, they're not mortals. But they still come from completely different environments than here. I think Thor's having more trouble than Sif, but they're both definitely adjusting. But they think it's fun, from what I saw. As far as they're concerned, they're discovering new and amazing things. There might be hardships involved, but they're weathering them well, from what I saw. I wish I'd adjusted so well to coming here at first." "As long as it's within easy walkin' distance, I don't care if it's made in a tin pot with a bunch of day old grounds." Kyle looks at the girls, then heaves to his feet and stretches hugely, working some kinks out of his back. "Well, you two gonna sit on the sidewalk like a couple of hippies, or you wanna get some coffee in your system?" He turns back, then offers each girl a hand, bracing his foot on the curbside ledge. Standing with her hands on her hips, Tanya arches a brow at Kyle. "I, for one, could actually use the coffee. Especially with as many shots of espresso as they're legally allowed to give me." She grins again, then shoves her hands into her coat pockets. "So come on, then, let's go find a place. There's got'a be a good one around here somewhere, and I can wake back up before we argue how gods might react to different environments." A grin given to Jubilee, there. "You want to argue, but you want coffee first. Kyle and I both want coffee. I'd say the priorities are juuuust right," Jubilation quips. She nods northwards. "And I know there's a Starbucks three blocks that way, if we don't find something better along the way. Shall we follow the gray brick sidewalk?" ((Fade Out)) Category:Logs Category:RPLogs